Let’s talk about fashion – Saigon Creative May event

That’s what we did. We got the inside scoop. A journey of tales. Starting in Milan, where we learned that fresh graduates are being picked up by the fashion houses on next to nothing wages. €200-400 a month and a one year contract. Renegotiable upon end of year. Except that the contract will not be renewed and another fresh student will take that spot as well as having to find a part time job to sustain a life in the city. By life, it means food and shelter for most of your time will be spent working.

"What is fashion?"

All the glamourous images and smokescreens came tumbling down. Being a fashion designer is not glamourous at all. Hard work and true love and almost an obsession for fashion will take you further down fashion street, anyone else will get lost and have to find another path to walk on.

Very brutal. Very competitive. A business. A money making business. Money. It’s all about the money.

Graduates are leaving with ideas of how they want to change the world with their designs. We all have been there, young and naive and then we met the established system. Some can make it work by being a rebel, by being different, but they don’t sell well. Success is measured in sales.

Creativity within defined key elements based on the heritage of the brand. All brands change slowly and use their old designs for reference and modify them, but hardly will they do an all over re-design. Too much at stake. Nobody wants to lose sales and earnings and for prices, prices are set based on the perception of the brand value. For example, a €900 garment at wholesale price, will most likely retail at €1800, and cost only €30 to produce. You pay for your brand experience.

Gen showing samples of her work.

We learned about the trade shows, their mood booths and future trends. Everything you see is two years ahead.

We learned about a job title has many positions baked into to it. People are expected to help and get the job done. Such as when you are prototyping and your fashion show is only a few weeks ahead and your boss decides to scrap everything for a new vision and your staffs are hiding because of the scream they heard when the news broke.

2-3 hours sleep on average per night in the run up to fashion week. Having a show and the garments are still not ready. Getting the receptionist and the cleaners to help getting button holes done on time. Sewing decor elements directly onto the model the minute before stepping out on the catwalk and having to tear it all after the show.

Photographers photographing every piece of the collection on the day of the show, delivering images and the printers are working overnight to produce the look book that is delivered to all the buyers on the morning after the show.

While you are selling your current collection and dealing with buyers, you are researching and producing your next collection, the cycle never stops and Gen is traveling onwards, still in love with fashion, just like her heros, such as Jean Paul Gaultier: “I live fashion. I breathe fashion. I am fashion. Fashion is my passion.”